Why do Jamaica produce the highest number of world class sprinters per population?

This small island country located in the Caribbean Sea with less than 3 million residents, have won 83 Olympic sprinting medals since first competing in the games in 1948.

According to some researchers, the hypo-steroids present in yams (a vegetable found widely in Jamaica) are what make Jamaican runners streak to victory on the running track.

This is just a theory though, and has no concrete evidence to back it up, and besides, there are two other real-world factors we must consider.

Each of us are born with more slow muscle fibres or more fast muscle fibres, and those with plenty fast muscle fibres have the greatest chance of becoming the next Usain Bolt.

It’s true, if you train hard and long enough, you could change the slow muscle fibres into fast muscle fibres, and you could become good, but you’d never get to world class.

But having fast muscle fibre alone is not enough. Together with fast muscle fibre, you’ve got to be dedicated to the sport, be desperate to succeed and train like your life depended on it.

This is the difference between sprinters in Jamaica, and those from other parts of the world.

You’ll find the same proportion of people in England with lots of fast muscle fibres, giving them the potential to become a world class sprinter. But then it comes down to want and desire.

In England there are many different activities children can afford to do, so they rarely have the desire to focus on just one, which is required if you want to become world class.

This is where sprinting in Jamaica is different…

Not surprisingly, every world-class Jamaican sprinter has a rags-to-riches story. From Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce to Usain Bolt, everyone has a tale of early struggles.

Desire plays a huge part for Jamaicans to become sprinters, they want to run themselves out of poverty. In-conjunction with this there is huge focus in the education system on ‘The Champs.’

The Champs is an annual affair held over four days at Kingston’s National Stadium.

Despite it being a high-school event, it attracts crowds of over 30,000 on all days, with live broadcasts on Jamaican national television.

With Champs occupying such a prominent place in the national consciousness, schools are keen to scout for talented youngsters who could represent them at the competition and win them medals.

Once they find a talented youngster, they will often offer to subsidise their education with scholarships. Bolt himself was given a scholarship after William Knibb school, saw his talent.

But it’s also fair to say, children living in England who have more fast muscle fibres, could also be the next Usain Bolt, but it will take desire, dedication to the sport, without any distractions.

Business leaders and executives can learn so much from Jamaica’s sprinters too. Because to be great at business, you need dedication to continuous learning, no matter your industry sector.

You and your teams must continually improve your customer experience and look for improved ways to deliver your products for the benefit of your customers.

Like our team do at MY Total Office Solutions, we might only provide office technology solutions. But we’ve dedicated our careers to provide simple honest service, in affordable packages with fixed price guarantees and no strings attached, providing all customers with certainty and peace of mind.

…making us world class at office technology, but terrible sprinters!